“Indeed,” Dubois said darkly. “I shouldn’t have been surprised that the current Duke of Dredford would treat me so abominably when his father was just the same!”
“You must be a very clever man, though,” Dorian said, thinking fast.
“What do you mean?” Dubois asked, blinking in surprise. Then he smiled. “But of course, I am deeply clever.”
“Yes, you are,” Dorian said, smiling widely. “Despite the fact the Duke of Dredford was not a good friend to you and tried to use you for your lands, you still managed to convince him to give you his daughter’s hand in marriage! You are very clever, indeed, Lord Dubois!”
Lord Dubois smiled mischievously, mysteriously, and Dorian’s heart hammered more loudly.
“I offered to make him a trade,” Dubois said, leaning in closer to Dorian. “My lands that he wanted for the promise of his daughter’s hand, should my wife die without producing an heir. I knew she wouldn’t. She was already old when I proposed this plan, and I was beginning to panic. But the Duke… he laughed in my face! Can you believe him? He’d been after those lands for years, manipulating me at every turn, and then when I offered him a fair bargain, he laughed at me!”
“He is every bit the cad I always suspected him to be,” Dorian said sympathetically. He leaned forward. “But how did you get him to change his mind?”
Dubois’ grin widened, revealing his yellowing teeth. Was it just Dorian’s imagination, or did they seem pointed?
“I didn’t get him to change his mind,” he said softly. Glancing around the public house, he leaned even closer to Dorian. “Can you keep a secret, Your Grace?”
“Of course,” Dorian breathed. Every inch of him was tense, as if he were about to spring forward. This was the moment he had been waiting for.
“The signature on the document is fake,” Dubois said, his eyes glittering. “But there is no way to prove it. I was in the Duke’s office often enough that I was able to procure documents with his signature on them. I practiced it for years, perfecting it. And then I signed the contract myself, using his signature ? and seal after making a copy. It is perfect, and no court of law will be able to find a problem with it. And of course, there are lettersbetween me and the Duke discussing the deal. You see, he was against it, but he began to waver over time, as his lands fell even deeper into debt. He knew that he was in financial trouble, and that only through procuring my lands could he hope to get out of debt. The last few letters between us show that he is willing to talk about the deal again. I will show these in court, along with the signed document, and no one will be able to testify against it. Not even the Duke of Dredford.”
Dubois sat back in his chair and laughed. Dorian, meanwhile, was stunned. The man had just confessed everything to him, but what use was that? It was Dorian’s word against Dubois’, and Dubois had a signed contract with, apparently, a perfect signature. And the letters…
These letters boiled Dorian’s blood. He had known the late Duke of Dredford well, and although he had been a good man, Dorian could believe that he had wavered. He was a foolish man, obsessed with his wife and making her happy no matter what, and he had spent lavishly on her. He’d loved his children, too, but Dorian could imagine there was a possibility in which he would consider selling one of his child’s happiness for more land and money.
Such a thing was not even uncommon, among the men of the ton. Most of them looked forward to convincing their daughters to marry the men they picked out for them, usually for financial and political gains. Why should the late Duke of Dredford be any different? Although the fact he hadn’t actually signed the document did show he’d had some sense of common decency, at least.
Dorian felt stuck. He could testify against Dubois, but seeing as how he was a known friend of Lucien’s, his testimony probably wouldn’t be believed. If only he could find a way to get Dubois to write this down…
But while the man might be drunk and blabbering, Dorian felt sure he wouldn’t be foolish enough to put any of this to paper.
Unsticking his throat, he said, “Even with the letters and the contract, the Duke of Dredford will not give up easily. He is very stubborn, especially when it comes to his family.”
“Then I will drag out this trial for so long that the family will be completely mired in scandal,” Dubois said with a shrug. “By the time I am done with them, no one else will want to marry Lady Leah anyway--or any of the other sisters, for that matter!”
“Lady Leah has many charms,” Dorian went on bullishly. “She can withstand scandal.”
“No woman, no matter how beautiful, can withstand scandal,” Dubois said contemptuously. “Anyway, the family will give up eventually. They will realize I am not such a bad choice, especially compared to Lady Leah becoming a socially shunned spinster. Surely they would rather she marry me than face that fate!”
A pounding was filling Dorian’s head. He had told himself he would remain calm, that he wouldn’t act on any of the feelings that Dubois’ words brought up in him. He had to keep playing the part, keep pretending to be on the man’s side.
But it was getting harder and harder.
“What?” Dubois barked at him, eyeing him suspiciously for the first time. “You look as if you just smelled something foul.”
“Oh, no, it’s just this pub,” Dorian said, but he could feel how stiffly he was sitting, how cold his words sounded.
“Personally, I don’t know what the girl is so upset about,” Dubois said. “Our set are always marrying for financial and familial gains. And it’s not as if anyone else wants her. She should be grateful! If she gives me an heir, she will be well looked after, and I will be dead soon anyway, and she can live out her days as a wealthy, powerful widow.” Dubois laughed. “Really, I’m the one getting the raw end of the deal. A beautiful wife, but not long to live to appreciate her!”
Dorian said nothing. His mouth had gone very dry, and his hands had curled into fists. It was taking every ounce of self-control he had not to hit the man and send him flying across the pub.
“Anyway, I am not surprised that you appreciate this story,” Dubois said, chuckling to himself. “You’re a well-known rake. You’re used to getting your way with women. Really, I admire you. I should have been a rake in my youth. But I suppose it’s never too late for a man to get the woman he wants.”
“I have never ‘gotten’ a woman who wasn’t willing to have me,” Dorian said coldly. His hands were now curled so tightly that he was starting to lose feeling in them. Another few moments,and he knew he would punch Dubois in the face. “That is the difference between you and me. A rake might be a cad, but he does not force women against their will. Which is precisely what you are boasting about doing, as if it were something to be proud of.”
Dubois frowned at him. “What is wrong with you? You look ill.”
“That’s how a man feels when he is talking to a snake,” Dorian breathed.
